Weekly Highlights 19/05/2023

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

Following my email to all parents this week regarding our Parent Satisfaction Survey, I thought it necessary to share more details with you regarding:

• why we run the survey
• a few highlights of the results from this year
• how we use the survey using your thoughts, ideas and feedback

Each year, the Parent Satisfaction Survey is organised through our Central Nord Anglia Education Team and distributed to all parents who belong to a NAE school community.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve BVIS and your feedback is vital to this process, to help us better understand how we are performing in key areas, including what we are doing well and any opportunities for improvement. We use the results to inform our strategy allowing us to continue providing the best possible educational experience for your child(ren).

This year we had a response rate of 50% which was well above the average for schools across our NAE network. This equates to over 400 separate responses from individual BVIS families.

It was pleasing to note that safety, happiness and a high-quality learning environment were identified as key strengths of our school:

Of the responses that either ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’:

• 94% of families think that their child feels safe at school
• 92% of families think that the school provides a stimulating learning environment
• 91% of families think that their child is happy at school
• 90% of families think that their children are making good progress at school

I was equally encouraged regarding the following results too:

• 94% of families think that the school keeps them informed about general school updates
• 93% of new families think that their first contact with the school was positive and welcoming
• 91% of families think that they have been accepted into a warm and welcoming community

This year, parents were asked for the first time to tell us about which social and personal skills they thought our school develops in our students -  the top 5 were identified as:

• Confidence
• Independence
• Creativity
• Global Awareness
• Wellbeing

However, how do we use this data to inform our school development planning?

From your feedback, we have already identified planned improvements across our campus. These include:

• more opportunities to improve parental awareness of and participation in our Nord Anglia Education programmes such as: Global Campus, Global Expeditions, Juilliard Performing Arts and UNICEF
• developing and upgrading our classrooms, additional teaching spaces, music rooms and IT learning spaces
• enhancing our outdoor play spaces – look out for developments within our Early Years at the beginning of the next academic year!

Additionally, in previous years, you have asked for improved sports facilities, increased shading and better indoor provision for when the outside air quality is not at the acceptable levels. This year, our students have fully utilised a new outdoor pool, been able to play safer outside under specialised shading and learned in classrooms that have cleaner, purified air.

I would like to thank all families who took time to complete this year’s survey. I hope that through our partnership, we can continue to further improve the educational opportunities that are on offer to everyone at BVIS, building a safe, happy school where our students are challenged academically to become true global citizens with a Vietnamese perspective.  

Should you have any suggestions or feedback on how we can further improve our educational offer, I would love to hear from you. Please respond via Ms Jacy using the email address jacy.nguyen@bvisvietnam.com. Alternatively, you can also arrange a face-to-face meeting to share your thoughts – as always, I’d be very happy to hear more!

Contact Us

For all enquiries regarding your child’s BVIS education, use the contact details below:

I wish you a very enjoyable and peaceful weekend ahead.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

F1’s Day Trip out

This week a group of F1 students experienced their first day trip out of school with their teachers.  On Wednesday morning, our youngest learners embarked on the journey to Kawaii Play Café where they focused on two prime areas of their learning and development; Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.  

The school trip provided the opportunity for our youngest learners to have new experiences as they practiced their gross motor movements in a bigger space. During their time at the play café, the teachers encouraged the students to engage and play with their friends in a different environment.  In addition, with the experience being a change in daily routine, it also provided the opportunity for the students to be courageous and resilient by managing their feelings and self-regulate in a new and unfamiliar environment. 
 
Well done to our youngest learners for a successful first school trip.  Next week, the second group of F1 students will take the trip with their teachers.

Products of Green Week!

On Friday after school, our primary community had the opportunity to see the end products that they had been working towards during the Green Week activities in April. 

The initiative started with inviting our community to donate clean and untorn plastic bags for this innovative upcycling project.  Students spent their lunchtimes during the week cutting the plastic into strips to then pass to our Community Partner, Limloop, who then spun the strips onto bobbins and weaved the material to create new and useful products that will last.
 
Limloop’s mission, “Providing customers with sustainable bags through plastic recycling and creating jobs for people with disabilities”, compliments the view of how our BVIS service-learning projects should make a difference to the wider community and support those who are in need.  The sustainability element of Limloop, coupled with the opportunity for disadvantaged Vietnamese citizens to work, meant that our BVIS primary students embedded their understanding and enhanced their empathy for looking after the environment and making a difference in society.
 
Thank you to all families who supported this initiative from providing the raw materials to purchasing the finished products.  

If you did not get the chance to visit the sale, you can view and purchase the products through Limloop’s website : https://limloop.com/product/ 

SISAC City Championships – U11 Basketball

Over the last week, the U11 Girls and Boys basketball teams competed in the SISAC City Championships.  The teams had been training for a number of weeks running up to the final event and were ready to take on the challenge of meeting teams from other international schools in HCMC to compete in the city-wide tournament.  

Eight schools competed in both exciting and thrilling finishes to the season.  Sporting opportunities like these allow our students to showcase their skills, build resilience and focus on collaborating as a team to ensure success.  Both the Girls and Boys teams had a rewarding and enjoyable experience – one which will remain with them as one of the most memorable experiences of their primary years. 

The Boys’ team finished with a great result of 3rd place out of 8 with Dinh Bao being awarded the certificate for displaying great skill throughout the tournament.  Next week, we will share the Girls’ overall team result.
 
Congratulations to the BVIS Bulldogs for all that they achieved in the U11 Basketball championships!

Upcoming Events

• 22/05/23 @ 08:40 – Primary Parent Coffee Morning on ‘Staying Safe Online’
  
  
• 24/05/23 @ 08:40 – Positive Parenting Workshop 6 for Lower Primary: Wearing your playful hat
  
  
• 31/05/23 @ 08:40 – Positive Parenting Workshop 6 for Upper Primary: Wearing your playful hat
  
  
• 01/06/23 – Children’s Day celebrations in school (children are invited to wear their own clothes to celebrate)
  
  
• 15/06/23 @ 14:00 – EYFS Parent meeting for the upcoming new academic year
  
  
• 20/06/23 – Y6 Celebration Evening for Y6 students and families

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary 

An Update from our Business and Economics Department

Year 10

In a lively and thought-provoking classroom activity, Year 10 economics students recently took on the topic of whether health care should be privatized. Armed with their research and real-life statistics, students were divided into teams and debated the merits of private versus public health care systems.

The debate was moderated by a panel of their class peers, who assessed the arguments put forward by each team and provided feedback on their presentation skills. The students engaged in a passionate discussion, exploring the complexities of the issue and the impact of privatization on access to healthcare.
 
The winning group was determined by the panel based on their ability to effectively use real-life statistics to support their argument and engage their audience.

Through this classroom activity, students were able to sharpen their critical thinking skills, develop their research abilities and gain valuable experience in public speaking and debate.

Year 11

Andy is standing in front of a whiteboard, analysing and pointing out exam techniques for his upcoming Business exam. He is wearing a confident expression on his face and appears to be fully engaged in the task.
 
On the whiteboard, we see a list of exam techniques, such as knowledge, analysis and application. As well as enhancing critical thinking, Andy is using a marker to circle and highlight key points, emphasizing their importance in achieving success on the exam.
 
This activity showcases Andy's dedication to his studies and his proactive approach to preparing for his exam.

By analysing and understanding the exam techniques, he is setting himself up for success and demonstrating the skills necessary for academic excellence in the field of Business. Well done, Andy! Good luck for the finals this week! 

Year 13

In the photo, a group of A Level Business students are huddled around the whiteboard, creating mind maps and discussing their knowledge in preparation for the upcoming paper 3 and paper 4 A Level Business examinations. The students are deep in thought, with some writing on paper while others look at a laptop screen. One student can be seen pointing to a section of their mind map. The atmosphere is one of focus and determination, as the students work together to achieve their academic goals. 

This activity captures the essence of the hard work and dedication required to excel in A Level Business.

Well done 13E set group!

Student Champion of the week

This week’s Champion is....

Thuy Duong from 7S! Congratulations!

Secondary Champion Tutor Group of the Week

This week’s highest scoring tutor group was...

Who last week collectively earned a massive 204 Housepoints! Well done to everyone in 7S!

Dalat and Saigon “Pie Faced” Heads of House and Tutors

This week some Heads of House challenged students to gain as many housepoints as possible, with the reward being a chance to “Pie Face” a Head of House or their form tutor.

Nguyen in 7S, Gia Man in 10S and Yuna in 9B all rose to the challenge and gave their Head of House or form tutors a shaving foam pie to the face during the house assemblies!

Marshmallows and engineering! 

This week, the houses faced off against each other in a competition that used design skills, mathematics, engineering and... MARSHMALLOWS!

They were challenged to build BVIS landmarks including Landmark 81, the Phu My Hung Bridge and even the Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon.

Hanoi gained 1st place due to their teamwork, creativity and dance moves, with Dalat coming second and Hue and Saigon drawing in third place! 

Well done to all who entered!

Upcoming Events  

• Ongoing: IGCSE; AS/A level exams
  
  
• 19^th May: Reading Seminar for Secondary Parents
  
  
• 9^th June: Season 3 clubs end
  
  
• 13 – 16^th June: Transition week for year 4,5,6
  
  
• 12 – 16^th June: Science Week
  
  
• 17^th June: Year 13 Graduation Ceremony
  
  
• 19^th June: Debate Day
  
  
• 23^rd June 11:30 am: Term 3 ends

Safeguarding and Child Protection

The health, safety and wellbeing of our students remains the number one priority at BVIS HCMC.

Should you have a concern for the welfare of any child in our school, please refer to our Safeguarding poster below: